Date 68 - Cookie, Cookie, Cookie!!

Date: Sunday, December 16, 2012 (and many more days)

Type: At Home, Productive

Cost: $$$

Planned By: Dani

Adam and I decided to give out cookies to some people for Christmas this year. We aren't very talented bakers, but we figured we could try. So I found a bunch of different cookie recipes and I decided on nine different types to make. We had to make at least two dozen of each cookie, but some had more. 

Cookie #1: Chocolate Marshmallow Cookie
These one were my favorite to make. I got to use home made icing, a piping bag and a real icing tip. I felt like a real baker. They easily fell apart after a couple days though.

Cookie #2: Mocha Crinkles
These came out dry, but still pretty good.

Cookie #3: Cinnamon Swirl Cookies
These were a little difficult to prepare with the swirling, I was very happy with the way they turned out.. and they were one of the best tasting!

Cookie #4: Andes Mint Cookies
We had to attempt to make these twice. The first time Adam and I had a miscommunication and put in way to many ingredients. The second batch turned out great, but I think they needed more mint... like a whole Andes mint for each cookie instead of a half.

Cookie #5: Angelettis
These were surprisingly very easy to make. I thought they turned out cute, and I really like them because of the anise extract.

Cookie #6: Cut-Out Sugar Cookies
I dreaded making these. I was very unhappy when the recipe made like 50 or more cookies instead of the 24 I was expecting. They ended up being easier than I was expecting and it wasn't so bad.

Cookie #7: Peanut Butter Surprise
These were not fun to make. I did not like having to wrap the chocolate part around the peanut butter. I think they turned out pretty good though.

Cookie #8: Hot Chocolate Cookies
I love hot chocolate and I love these cookies. One problem I came across was too many chocolate chips. The recipe picture has now chocolate chips sticking out but were everywhere. They were more like a Hot Chocolate Chip Cookie.

Cookie #9: Pretzel Hugs
These were super easy and really tasty right out of the oven. They got a bit stale over time though.

So there you have it. We made nine types of cookies. Adam didn't help make the cookies as much as I thought he would, but he was the best taste-tester and recipe reader I could have asked for.

Date 67 - Here We Go Brownies, Here We Go!

Date: Sunday, December 9, 2012
Type: Sports, City, Fun
Cost: $$
Planned By: Both

Adam and I are both life long Cleveland Browns fans. We are quite loyal, but we had never been to a game together. Since we live downtown it was the perfect opportunity.

We decided to go to the game against Kansas City since their record is worse than ours, and we had hope for a win. We went to stubhub.com to find tickets.  I totally recommend this website! It was super easy and we got about $50 off each ticket!

To get ready for the game we bought Adam a new t-shirt because both of his jerseys are for players no longer on the team. I couldn't find anything reasonably priced to buy for my self so I borrowed a shirt and hat from our friend Lauren.

Instead of tailgating at the Municipal Lot we had pizza and chips with salsa con queso for lunch at home. Then we went to the bar downstairs for a couple beers where a bunch of other fans were doing the same.

We ended up being a bit late for the game, but good news we missed the only time Kansas City scored! We had really good seats around the 45 yard line of the upper sideline. The view was great. Surprisingly, the weather was pretty good for a December game (upper 40s!). It started raining during the last quarter, but we were prepared with ponchos!

The Browns did an awesome job. One of the best games I've watched! I'm so glad that Adam and I got to go to this game together.. it was so much fun and they actually won!!

Date 66 - Oh, Fudge!!

Date: Saturday, December 1st, 2012
Type: City, Home
Cost: $$
Planned By: Dani

First Christmas date of the year!

Adam and I got a Groupon for 50% off tickets to see the "A Christmas Story" house and museum in Tremont. Neither of us had ever been so when we saw the Groupon we had to get it.

First, we toured the house. It was very interesting and interactive. We were allowed to pick up the leg lamp, play with the The Red Ryder BB gun (don't worry Adam didn't shoot his eye out), pretend to put soap in our mouth, and sit and touch anything we wanted. It was pretty fun and they did a great job making it look exactly like the house in the movie.

Next, we went through the museum. They has so many props and pictures from the making of the movie. We got to see the clothes they wore, actual toys from the Higbee building, and large props like the chalkboard from Ralphie's classroom. They also had a gift shop with a wide selection of memorabilia but we didn't buy anything.

Then we went home and decorated our apartment for the holidays. We had to start off with my favorite holiday drink - Peppermint Hot Cocoa. Just add a little peppermint schnapps to hot cocoa and you have the most amazing drink for the holidays! Before we could start decorating we decided to rearrange our entire living area. We had to move the office in to our bedroom for the winter to have enough room for our trees. Once that was finished and we cleaned up a bit we began decorating! We used most of the same decorations as last, but I also made a few new things to display. I made new stockings to match our new lime and purple living room, candy vases, and cute Ho Ho Ho picture frames. We listened to Christmas music and finished decorating together. We had lots of fun, and Obi was quite curious the entire time. I think that our apartment looks very festive and I'm very happy with how it turned out. :)

Date 65 - Happy Turkey!

Date: Thursday, November 22nd - Saturday, November, 24thType: Family, Holidays
Cost: $
Planned By: Both

Our Second Thanksgiving together. We decided to bring Obi to Conneaut for the weekend to meet everyone!

At the beginning of Thanksgiving we had a brunch with Adam's mom. I made sausage gravy over biscuits. They were just as good as always :) We watched some of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and followed Obi around the house as he explored for a couple hours.

Next, we packed Obi back up and left for my mom's house for the rest of Thanksgiving Day. Adam, Michelle, Jim, Amanda, Zak and I all started off the afternoon with a two mile Turkey Trot. We got t-shirts and prizes for the second annual event. The first mile we all walked together. The second mile was a race to the finish line. Michelle and Jim cheated on the second mile and drove after the rest of us jogged away. Adam and I ultimately won since we didn't cheat and came in first. So we got the turkey trot mug and the others got a turkey trot pen. It was all pretty silly, but we had a good time. :)

Next, we had dinner at my grandma's. We.. I mean I made these cute little turkey name holders for each person's place setting. They are made with two oreos, a reese cup, a whopper, candy corn and frosting. They were much easier to make then I was expecting them to be. Everything tasted great. We then spent more time with my family for the rest of the night.

On Friday we went shopping in Erie like we do every year. Adam and I mostly bought stuff for ourselves but we found a few things for other people. When we got sick of shopping we went to our annual breakfast at Old Country Buffet. It was the meal I had been waiting for all week, and it was delicious! Friday night we stayed with Adam's parents. We went to the American Legion and had fun talking to their friends and we watched the Conneaut Christmas Parade. It was cold and wet.

Saturday we went to the Neubauer Family Thanksgiving dinner. It was really nice seeing everyone and we got to eat even more delicious food! We left a little early to get back to Cleveland in time for the Public Square tree lighting. We got home just in time to run over to Public Square right as we walked in they were counting down. The lights are beautiful and really made it feel like the holiday season! Next, we decided to go lose $20 at the casino, but that's OK because we left the casino just in time to see the fireworks display over all the Christmas lights in Public Square.

We then went home and relaxed for the rest of the weekend. It was a very nice Thanksgiving weekend. :)